dr. Mariecke van den Berg

Within the project Contested Privates: the oppositional pairing of religion and homosexuality in contemporary public discourse, I conduct a comparative analysis of public debates in, among other countries, Sweden, Serbia, and Spain. My research departs from the assumption that there will be differences in the way in which religion and homosexuality are constructed in public debates in these countries, based on their various religious and political configurations (Sweden as post-State Church Lutheran, Serbia as post-socialist and Eastern Orthodox, and Spain as post-Franco and Roman Catholic). I focus in particular on responses to the introduction of same-sex (or gender neutral) marriage legislation and controversial art or performances, such as for instance Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin’s 1998 exhibition Ecce Homo or the performance of Conchita Wurst (Tom Neuwirth) at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest. Contested Privates is funded by NWO, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, and is part of the Amsterdam Center for the Study of Lived Religion.

Project website: http://www.livedreligion.org/cultures/projects/contested-privates/.

2014 - present:    Executive Secretary and Education Coordinator NOSTER

2015-2016          Guest Lecturer, Utrecht University, Humanities Faculty, Gender Studies  

2012 - 2015:       Project Manager LCC Plus

2013 - 2014        Guest Lecturer, Utrecht University, Humanities Faculty, Philosophy and Religious Studies

2009 - 2014:       PhD Candidate, University of Twente, Public Administration

2008    Research Master Gender & Ethnicity, Utrecht University (cum laude)

2007    Master Comparative Women's Studies in Culture and Politics, Utrecht University

2006    Bachelor Theology, Utrecht University

D. Igrutinovic, S. Sremac & C.A.M. van den Berg (2015). "Pride Parades and/or Prayer Processions: Contested Public Space in Serbia #Belgrade Pride 2014. In: Journal of Empirical Theology 28(2), pp. 204-225.

C.A.M. van den Berg & Z. Popov Momcinovic (2015).  "Echoes from the margin: responses to the Pope's statements on homosexuality in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Sweden". In: S. Sremac & R.R. Ganzevoort (red.), Religious and Sexual Nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe: Gods, Gays, and Governments. Leiden/Boston: Brill, pp. 93-112.

Dolinska-Rydzek, M. & C.A.M. van den Berg (2015). "'Gays as a weapon of the Antichrist'. Religious nationalism, homosexuality and the antichrist on the Russian internet". In: S. Sremac & R.R. Ganzevoort (red.), Religious and Sexual Nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe: Gods, Gays, and Governments. Leiden/Boston: Brill,  pp. 134-153.     

emptyM. van den Berg, D. Bos, R.R. Ganzevoort, M. Derks, M. Janovic, A.J.A.C.M Korte en S. Sremac (2014), "Religion, Homosexuality, and contested Social Orders in The Netherlands, the Western Balkans and Sweden".Hoofdstuk in Ganiel, G., Winkel, H. en Monnot, C. (red.) Religion and the social order. Leiden/Boston: Brill. pp. 116-134

C.A.M. van den Berg (2014), Mantelzorg en etniciteit. Etnische verschillen in de zorgattitude, zorgbereidheid en conflicthantering van mantelzorgers. Universiteit Twente: Proefschrift.

C.A.M. van den Berg (2010). "Handleiding voor paradijssceptici: de zin van een queer zondeval". In: Van Klinken, A. en N. Pruiksma, (red.), Onder de regenboog. De Bijbel queer gelezen. Vught: Skandalon, pp. 17-28.